Daily Devotions: April 21, 2017

John 20:19-23

“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” vs. 23

According to John, after the resurrection, Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into the disciples and told them that they were the extension of his mission. Moreover it is clearly implied that forgiving sins would be their central activity, that nothing was more important. Through the years the church has taken this imperative seriously and forgiveness has always been at the center of its proclamation. In fact, there were times in our history when church leaders managed to parlay the forgiveness mandate into a huge money-maker, something that most folks think was not a part of Jesus’s original intention. They could do this because forgiveness is such a big deal in the lives of sinners. All of us sin and all need the assurance of forgiveness…and some were even willing to pay for it! During his ministry, Martin Luther spoke against this abuse of God’s greatest gift. He said that forgiveness was costly, but that it was free and available to all who believe. More than that, he taught that church leaders weren’t the only ones who could forgive but that any believer could and should freely forgive the sins of others. It’s one of the things we’re called to do in our resurrected life. Jesus freely forgave and so will we. We’ll listen to the confessions of brothers and sisters and offer them the sweet forgiveness that is our gospel legacy.

Guest Comments

My wife and I were guests at Spirit along with our family reunion. We want to express our compliments to the facility and our gratitude to the staff who were wonderful. All could not have been more pleasant, friendly, fun and at time, peaceful! It was the very best family Christmas ever.

I am so very appreciative of every thing that was done by the staff at Spirit to make our workshop session the best it could be. It was so apparent that “small miracles” were happening as the morning unfolded and, once again, I’m reminded that we are here to work God’s plan and not our own agenda. For all that Spirit did to make those miracles happen, I am grateful!

To all the Spirit Staff…front desk, housekeeping, kitchen, yard, program planning—however you define your role, you are all truly God’s servants in your ministry to all visitors…The Spirit of our God roams these buildings and landscape—you are blessed to work here and we are blessed when we come.

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This year, Steve Holm, a retired pastor living in Tempe, will be providing daily meditations for Spirit’s website. Steve served at Desert Cross Lutheran Church for 22 years. In the past he has provided meditations for Advent and Lenten illustrated devotional booklets. Now, we’re thankful that he’s providing these short devotions for visitors to the website. …Read today's and past devotions.